Muses From The North

Article 4: How I Feel to Live in the North

Chadwin Scatch Being in the norththe north of CanadaI always feel likeI’m cursed with the love for wintereven if it is summer Imaginary snowflakeswhite and fluffygive me happy chillsjust as real sunny daysoften brings me bad moods Being in the Norththe north of CanadaI feel like I’m homefresh air, the Creetrees Southanywhere Southdispleases meI don’t…

Article 3: Reconnection and Healing

Nicole McKenzie “I felt like I was born into two worlds but accepted by neither. It is not an easy place to be,” I told my granddaughter, Dot, as we sat together by the warm fire in the den, sipping tea and enjoying some freshly baked blueberry bannock. One world was the glorified white, and…

Article 2: Am I Next?

Charlie McGillivary Helen Betty Osborne Kendara Ballantyne Josephine Martin Darcie Muchikekwanape Charlene Aubichon Is anyone following me? Am I being stared at? Are they plotting how to grab me? How will I defend myself today? Valuable when useful Exploited and ignored Why am I expendable? I must walk by the place where she was found…

Article 1: Indigenous Women’s Literature as Voice for Feminism: Nectar in a Sieve, Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World, and The Bride Price

Tenness Graham When women’s liberation movements began in the 1960s thus begun the fight for women’s rights all over the world. This movement’s purpose was to seek equal rights and opportunities for women, giving them a voice in dominant male societies. The development and broadening of different feminist values created theoretical frameworks to help better…

From the Editor’s Desk

           Our student authors, together with the editing and publishing team of Muses from the North, rang out the past year, 2021, by celebrating the journal’s 8th and 9th issues. The year of 2022 will witness the release of another theme-focused issues on the subject of Truth and Reconciliation. Going down memory lane, especially as…

Article 13 – Indigenous Identity and Culture: Potiki by Patricia Grace, Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel, and No Sugar by Jack Davis

Catherine Ross Indigenous identity is represented through its culture. Indigenous peoples have different cultures, and it is important to understand that each culture has its own values, customs, and beliefs. No matter what culture each Indigenous group has, Indigenous identity should be recognized and respected without any discrimination:Even though identity groups were not participants in…

Article 12 – Indigenous Peoples and Land: Jack Davis’s No Sugar, Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease, Sia Figiel Where We Once Belonged, and Kayano Shigeru’s Our Land Was a Forest

Sandreka Kaczoroski All over the world, “there are many kinds of Aboriginal [groups] that can be defined in relation to interests in, and associations with, land” (McLean 218). Indigenous peoples have a special connection and relationship to the land. The connection between Indigenous populations and their land is physical, social, spiritual, and cultural. Their wellness…

Article 11 – “You Must Respect the Land”

Ian Sinclair “You must respect Land!” are the words I heard from my grandpa since I was a young boy. As an Indigenous person, I have grown up respecting the land. As a child, my grandpa would take me fishing and explain how we have to respect what we catch and not catch more than…

Article 10 – Sorrow for Our Future Generations

Nateshia Constant-Personius My dear future generationsI look out my window and I see long deliberationsExtra buildings that took concentration I am sorry you have to deal with our stupidity and ambitions.We called it progression, but it was demons on the rise.Now, you have to live with the pollution.And our lies. We didn’t know what we…

Article 9 – The Girl Who Saved Our Land

Kayla Wall This story is different from any conventional story you have read before. Most stories have a single character with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a smile bright enough to light up the deepest of skies. I am a single character with multiple roles; I can be anyone you want me to…